Vehicle wheel mounting



G. L. -LARI-SON VEHICLE WHEEL MOUNTING 4 Sheelis-Sheet 1 Original Filed March 12, 1943 GLENN L. LAR/SON INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Jan. 22, 1946. G LARISON VEHICLE WHEEL- MOUNTING 01 iginal Filed, March 12, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 GLENN L.LAR/so- INVENTOR MMM ATTORNEYS Jan. 22, 1946. G LARISON Re. 22,714

VEH I GLE WHEEL MOUNT ING Original Filed March 12, 1945 4 Shee'ts-Shee1. 3

GLENN L. LARISON INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Jan. 22, 1946. G. LARISON VEHICLE WHEEL MOUNTING 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed March 12, 1943 GLENN L. LARISON INVENTOR BY M KO(M ATTORNEYS they take up some vision will Reissue! Jan. 22, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VEHICLE WHEEL MOUNTING Glenn L. Larison,

Larison Compensatin poration of Oregon La Grandc, rcg., assignor to g Axle Corporation, a cor- Original No. 2,349,289, dated May 23, 1944, Serial No. 478,867, March 1943. Application for reissue October. 3, 1945, Serial No. 620,029

Claims.

This invention relates to mountings for vehicle wheels in which the wheels are arranged in pairs, with the wheels of each pair placed a short distance apart transversely and mounted so that they may roll independently of each other and also so that each wheel may be raised above or dropped below the level of the other, but with the wheels of the pair so connected by compensating mechanism that each wheel will at all times carry its share of the load.

More particularly, this invention relates to the type of compensating wheel mounting described in my U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,226,100 issued as, the wheel-carrying arms, and the other ends of the longitudinally-extending springs are so connected as to cause them to move up and down in opposite directions. While these longitudinally-extending spring members are satisfactory in providing a shock reducing medium in the compensating connection between' the wheelcarrying arms of each pair, nevertheless the fact that each of these spring members must be piv- 'otally and separately mounted necessitates extra bearings requiring lubrication in the vehicle suspension. Also when these members are spaced above the corresponding wheel-carrying arms space which might be utilized advantageously for brake mechanism or for other purposes.

The object of this invention is to dispense with the necessity of havin a separate pivotal mounting on the vehicle frame or walking-beam for such spring members, and also to substitute a somewhat simpler means of interconnecting the wheel-carrying arms of eachpair in which prostill be made for cushionin and reducing' sudden shocks received from either or both wheels.

The manner in while this object is carried out.

will be apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

vFig. l is a side elevation of a portion of a vebination with an ordinary hicle frame showing my mounting. for a pair of wheels attached directly to the vehicle frame, the outside wheel and wheel spindle having been removed for the sake of clarity;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of an eight-wheeled trailer vehicle, with the two wheels on the near side removed, illustrating how the same wheel mounting may be employed in comwalking beam";

Fig. 3 is a sectional end elevation of one of the pair of wheel mountings of Fig. 2, correspondin to the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view corresponding to the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5--5 of Fig, 3;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation of an eight-wheeled vehicle, with the two wheels on the near side removed, illustrating a slightly different mannerof employing my wheel mounting;

Fig. 'l is a section on the line 'I-l of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a side elevation, with one of the wheels removed, of another form in which my invention can be carried out.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, each wheel spindle 23 is supported on a pivotallymounted wheel-carrying assembly A, which, in the vehicle shown in Fig. 1, is pivoted on a shaft mounted in a bearing bracket ll secured to the vehicle frame Ill, or which, in the vehicle shown in Fig. 2. may be pivoted on a shaft mounted in the walking-beam I2. I It will suffice to describe the pivotal mounting of each pair of wheelcarrying assemblies on the walking-beam l2 and this will be seen clearly in Fig. 4. A suspension shaft l3 extends transversely through the walking-beam I2 and is secured-therein, for example, by welding. Each end of the shaft I3 is reduced as shown at l4 and a wheel-carrying assembly A is rotatably mounted thereon. The hub 15 of assembly'A houses a pair of anti-friction bearings l6 which are suitably spaced by a spacer I1, and are held in place by a lock nut l8. An oil seal l9 and an end plate 20 seal the housing and hold the lubricant therein. A wheel spindle 23 is securely mounted in the pivoted wheel-carrying assembly A in any suitable manner, and a vehicle wheel 24 is journaled on the wheel-spindle.

Each wheel-carrying assembly A (see Figs. 1 and 2) has an extending portion 25, preferably extending downwardly, to which an associated member or hanger arm B is pivotally connected by means of a pin 26. The shape and construction of the associated member or hanger arm B an upward or obtuse angle bend approximately a compensating wheel and its other end isattached to a corresponding and similar hanger arm (see Fig. 3) for the other wheel of the pair. A lateral web 35, adjacent thedrum'section of the hanger arm, provides a pocket-or seat for the bottom of a coil spring 34. obliquely upwardly from the ,hub of the wheelcarrying assembly A and engages the top of the coil spring 34. A lug 28 on the under side of the paw 21 holds the upper end of the coil spring 34 against lateral displacement.

The compensating wheel 0 is mounted on a supporting bracket (see Figs. 1 and 3), which is secured to the'frame Ill of the vehicle in the wheel suspension shown in Fig. 1, or which is secured to the top flange of an end plate 4| of the walking-beam l2 in the wheel suspension shownlin Figs. .2 and 3. The wheel C is preferably inclined at such an angle that its axis will be perpendicular to a tangent from the central portion of thearcuate drum section of the member B. The compensating wheel and its mounting are shown more fully in Fig. 5. A stub shaft 42 is secured in the bracket 40. A shouldered bushing 45 is inserted in the bore of the wheel and is journaled on the shaft 42. A snap ring 46 retains the wheel on the shaft. The wheel has a pair of ears 49 and a pin 50 extends through these ears and engages a link of the chain 31. The chain .31 illustrated is of the cable typewand A paw 21 extends since the arc of the drum section 32 of the member B and the perimeter of the compensating wheel lie in planes which are perpendicular to each other, a connecting link 5| is placed between the corresponding engaging portions of the chain 31.

An important feature of this construction is the fact that the outer contour of the drum section 32 of the member B is concentric about the axis on which the wheel-carrying assembly 'A pivots .and thus the chain is restricted largely to longitudinal movement only, its geometrical position being such that its longitudinal movement will be in a line which is tangent to an arc of a circle of which the pivotal axis, of the wheelcarrying assembly is the center. 7

From the description of my vehicle wheel mounting thus far it will be apparent thatwhen one of the wheels of the pair is raised above the level of the other, causing the wheel-carrying assembly A to, swing upwardly, the lower, pivotally-connected end of the member B also will move upwardly while the other or drum section end of the member B will be moved downwardly. However, due to the bend in the member B below the pivotal mounting of the wheelcarrying assembly A, such downward movement or the other section of member B will not bring member B too close to the ground. Downward movement of this end will cause the corresponding end of the chain 31 to be pulled downwardly. The downward pull of the chain on one side of the compensating wheel C will produce an upward pull of the chain on the other side with the result that the other associated member and wheel-carryingqassembly will be moved oppositely and the other wheel of the pair will-move downwardly. It will also be apparent that a Should the spring 34 would thereafter act the vehicle is raised from'the ground fora vehicle. also be employed in combination with my wheel connected .to the inner 'mesh with bevel gears sudden shock received by either wheel, for example when that wheel strikes a, sudden bump in the road, will cause the spring 34 to be compressed, which will cushion the shock to the compensating mechanism and to the vehicle, and this will betrue even if both wheels of the pair should strike the same bump simultaneously.

become broken the associated member B would be caused to contact the hub of the wheel-carrying assembly A and as a rocking lever. I he compensating mechanism would still function but there would be no cushioning of the shock in that half of the compensating mounting. Suitable stops should be provided (these are not shown) to limit the upward movement of the Wheel-carrying assemblies in the event of the breaking of the chain 32 or of one of the members B. The upper end of the drum section 32 terminatesin-a-lipfi (Fig. 1) which engages the end of the :pawl2i1 should .the member B attempt to drop down too far in the event the chain 3.1

should break. It isdesirablealso to have-a stop,

casethe paw .2] as well as the chain ,3] should becomebroken, thusenabling the vehicle to proceed on its way in spite of such breaks. When 8.9 pose, or when, for instance, this wheel mountingiis used in an airplane landing gear, it may be desirable to prevent either wheel-carrying assemb y. from, dropping down .too far. For this purpose Iprovide 2. lug 3| (Fig. 2) on the hub of the wheel-carrying assembly A to engage a stop 28 when the wheel-carrying assembly swings down a. certain distance, thus preventing further downward ,movementof the wheel-carrying assembly.

, In Fig. 2 I have shown how my vehicle wheel mounting can be used with an ordinary walking-beam or equalizer in an eight-wheeled However other equalizing means may mounting to equalize the load between :two tandem pairs of wheels. In the vehicle illustrated in Fig. 6 a longitudinal rocker 53 has been substituted for the conventional walking-beam in accordance with the vehicle suspension described in my U. S; Letters Patent No. 2,284,665, issued under date of June 2, 1942, .to which reference should be made.

In Fig. 6 the two pairs of wheel-carrying assembliesare pivotally mounted on suitable brackets attached to the vehicle frame .56. The longitudinal rocker 53 is pivoted on a shaft 54 in the bracket 55 also carried v on the vehicle frame 56. Although a compensating wheel could be mounted on each end of the rocker 53 and the chainsi'l bemade to pass over these compensating wheels in the manner previously described, I prefer in .this construction, to substitutea differential unit D at each end of the rocker in place of the compensating wheels. .Such a, difierential unit is shown more fully inlFiglfl.

Each differential .unit comprises a housing 5.2

(Fig. 7), havinghubs 6| within which the pair of alined shafts B0 are journaled. Bevel pinionsj53, ends of the shafts 60, .64 mounted on cross shafts .65, as in any ordinary differential. Sprocket wheels 59 are mounted on the outer ends of the shafts 60. The chains 51 are attached to the sprocket wheels 5 as shown in :Fig. 'Ggthe corresponding chains on the other half of each of the mountings for the pairs of wheels being similarl arranged. Due to the action of the diflerential D, when the chain on one sprocket wheel 59 is pulled down the sprocket wheel at the other side of the diilerential will act to pull the other corresponding chain upwardly. Thus the differential operates in the same way as the compensating wheel C of Figs. 1 and 2 to cause opposite movement between the two wheel-carrying assemblies of the pair of wheels. The use of a differential as an element of the compensating mechanism dispenses with the necessity of providing any special connecting links 5| (Fig. l) in the chains. Obviously a differential might be substituted for the compensating wheel 0 in the construction shown in Fig. 1. My wheel mounting lends itself readily to other types of equalizing means which may be used to connect front and rear pairs of wheels in eight-wheeled vehicle suspension. v

Fig. 8 shows a wheel mounting in which a resilient or leaf spring member is substituted for the hanger arm as the associated member connected to the wheel-carrying assembly \A. In this construction the semi-elliptical leaf spring 64 is pivotally connected at one end to the downwardly extending portion of the wheel-carrying assembly A. The chain 43 is connected to the other end of the leaf spring 64. The chain 43 is attached to one of the sprocket wheels of the differential D supported on the vehicle frame 58. The spring 64 is mounted in a suitable cradle 48 secured to the hub of the wheel-carrying assembly A. The Spring 64 might be mounted above the wheel-carrying assembly in the same manner. However, I consider it preferable in both constructions to have the associated member mounted below the wheel-carrying assembly.

Other modifications in the cushioning or shockabsorbing means and in the compensating mechanism employed as part of my wheel mounting said paw and compression spring acting to keep;-

the member normally spaced a predetermined distance below the hinge portion of the wheel-carrying assembly, whereby upward movement of a wheel-carrying assembly will cause opposite movement in the extending end of its associated member and any sudden upward movement of the wheel-carrying assembly will cause said spring to could also be made within the scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a vehicle, a mounting for a pair of wheels including, a. pair of wheel-carrying assemblies, said assemblies hinged at one end on said vehicle for up and down movement, the hinges of said wheel-carrying assemblies being in transverse alinement, said wheel-carrying assemblies extending in the same direction, each wheel-carrying assembly having a downwardly extending portion, an associated member located below each wheelcarrying assembly in the same vertical plane with the wheel-carrying assembly, one end of said associated member connected to the downwardly extending portion of the wheel-carrying assembly, the outer end of the member extending beyond the hinge of its wheel-carrying assembly, intermediate means extending from the wheelcarrying assembly to its associated member, compensating mechanism connecting said other ends of said associated members, whereby upward movement of one wheel-carrying assembly will cause a force in the opposite direction to be exerted on the other wheel-carrying assembly.

2. In a vehicle, a mounting for a pair of wheels including, a pair of wheel-carrying assemblies, said assemblies hinged to the vehicle frame for up and down movement, the hinge portions of said wheel-carrying assemblies being in transverse alinement, said wheel-carrying assemblies extending in the same direction, each wheel-carrying assembly having a downwardly extending portion on the opposite end from said hinge portion, an

compress and cushion the shock while permitting the member to come closer to the hinge portion of the wheel-carrying assembly.

3. In a vehicle, a mounting for a pair of wheels including, a pair of wheel-carrying assemblies pivotally mounted at one end on said vehicle for up and down movement, the pivotal mountings of said wheel-carrying assemblies being in transverse alinement, each wheel-carrying assembly having a downwardly extending portion, a resilient member located below each wheel-carrying assembly in the same vertical plane with the wheel-carrying assembly, one end of said resilient member pivotally connected to the downwardly extending portion of the wheel-carrying assembly, the other end of the member extending beyond the pivotal mounting of the wheelcarrying assembly, a cradle for each resilient member extending downwardly from the pivotal mounting of the respective wheel-carrying assembly, compensating mechanism connecting said other ends of said members, whereby upward movement of a. wheel-carrying assembly will cause opposite movement of the extending end of its associated resilient member and will cause a downward force to be exerted on the other wheel-carrying assembly.

4. In a running gear assembly, a walkingb'eam, a pair of wheel-carrying assemblies hinged to said walking-beam for up and down movement, the hinges of said wheel-carrying assemblies being in transverse alinement, said wheelcarrying assemblies extending in the same direction, each wheel-carrying assembly having a downwardly extending portion, an associated member located below each wheel-carrying assembly in the same vertical plane with the wheelcarrying assembly, one end of the associated member connected to the downwardly extending portion of the wheel-carrying assembly, the other end of the member extending beyond the hinge of the wheel-carrying assembly, intermediate means extending from the wheel-carrying assembly to its member, compensating mechanism connecting the other ends of the two associated members, said compensating mechanism carried on said walking-beam, a second pair of similar wheel-carrying assemblies hinged to said walking-beam in longitudinal alinement with the first pair of wheel-carrying assemblies respectively, similar members associated with said second pair of wheel-carrying assemblies, similar compensating mechanism connecting the ends of said second pair of members, said compensatwhereby said; 41am: distribute; ttm vehicle load-z between; said: first such second. pairs of 'wheel carryingi 5i In:a;:.vehic1e, amountingfbr B-iPBi-IT ofiwheefls including, a pair: of wheel-carrying assemblies; said assemblies pivotally mountect for up; and downmovement;- eazchl wheelecarrym s assembly having an associated; member located; below the wheat-carrying; assembly: in: sulistantiallys the same vea'bical plsne: as :the wheel cantying asseml- 1317-, nne end of ftiie associated member connected withthe" wheel carryingassembly; the other end of the associated member extending beyond the pivot poztion ofitlia -wheel-carrying assmnbly an upward bend in saidmember close to the pivot portion of" the wheel -canrying assembly: causingsaid lstter -ment'lbned 'emt of saidz member nor mally toextend obliquely upwardly: from said bend;- a pawoneaclrwheeI-carmng assembly ex- 271i mg; mechanisms mauntedi omsaidlwalkinasbeam,

tending; obliqu lyupwandlw from: the; pivot. pentiflnf the;wheelz-.carming assembly and subs stantially parallel to; said, latten-mentioned: and of; the nssoniataad;i'nemberw a compression spring batweemthemaw and hhezassaciatedimemben ing; to; keep said= memlben normally spaced; a: Q1169 detennined; distanca below the, pivot, portion of;

thee wheelrcarryingn assembly; and compensating mechanism; connecting; the :lattenmentioned endsof: saida associat'ei members whereby upward nmvemenh' of: one; wheelecanrying; assembly will causera tones. to; be; exerted: in: the; opposite direction cm the: othen wheel-calming; assembly whilnz said; springs; willcushion the; shocks: re;- ceiyedi from: saith wheelrcarrying; assemblies; and whaneby" saict' upward. bends insaid; associated memhers; will; prevent. said; members; from being brought; tome close. to, the; ground: uponi upward mnvement of: their: wheeL-carnvimnssembliex.

GLENN L. LARISQN; 

